Huge frustration over 'entirely preventable' crisis impacting many in Kilkenny

Frustration is mounting among parents across Kilkenny as TDs from across the political spectrum lined up in the Dáil to condemn the ongoing crisis in school bus services.

Speaking in the chamber, Sinn Féin TD Natasha Newsome Drennan hit out at what she described as an avoidable annual fiasco.

“It is the most predictable event in our calendar yet despite all this notice, parents across Kilkenny and Carlow are left to face the same entirely preventable crisis in school transport,” she said.

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“Year after year, the routes and student numbers remain largely consistent. This is not a complex, unforeseen challenge, but a basic function of the Department, yet the planning failures of the Department consistently become a crisis for parents to solve.”

She highlighted the chaos around Scoil Phádraig in Ballyhale, where almost 80 tickets were issued for a 52-seater bus.

“Despite these children having a ticket, there was no bus for them - it was effectively a ghost bus - and then, suddenly, these tickets were revoked,” she added.

Fianna Fáil TD Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere echoed the anger of rural families, stating that “every single child in this State deserves access to safe and reliable transport to and from school. It is non-negotiable.”

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Listing communities from Ballyragget to Graignamanagh, he stressed the scale of the problem and welcomed a pilot additional bus for Ballyhale and Knockmoylan.

“We know that the funding is there for it, which is brilliant, but the challenge is to get the actual bus, the service and the driver in place,” he said.

“I implore the Minister of State once again to do everything he can with Bus Éireann to fast-track this for the families of Knockmoylan and for the kids attending the school in Ballyhale.”

He also called for older drivers to be reinstated.

Deputy Catherine Callaghan pointed to distress caused by last-minute ticket decisions.

“Many distraught parents came to me in the week school was returning because they discovered that their child who had a ticket all their school life is starting leaving certificate year and no longer has one,” she said.

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“This causes stress and turmoil within a household.”

She too urged Bus Éireann to drop the over-70 rule.

Independent TD Michael Lowry warned that families in North Kilkenny are being left stranded by outdated rules.

“The current system is outdated, unmanageable and not fit for purpose,” he said.

Highlighting problems in Johnstown, Galmoy, Freshford and Tullaroan, he said: “Failures, inconsistencies, and anomalies cause parents and students distress, aggravation, inconvenience, and financial burden.

“We are fast approaching the stage where children will not be collected for school because of a lack of drivers.”

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